Everything you were afraid to ask about health

This is a solid book for teaching you the basics of leading a healthy life. For people not well educated on basic wellness ideas, this can be a godsend: it will guide you through many topics that are considered common knowledge but, unfortunately, probably aren't as well-known and properly understood as they should be.

Topics covered here include:
- basic methods to studying and eliminating unhealthy habits
- stress sources and management
- strength exercises, including photos and descriptions of many common ones: good for an exercise novice who'd like to avoid the embarrassment of looking totally confused at the gym (though there's no substitute to a trainer who knows what he's doing)
- healthy eating habits, and detailed analysis of carbs, fats, and other things food is made up of
- coverage of diseases, including STDs and other chronic illnesses

This book is great for independent study, which was the method I used it. Augmenting it with help from a teacher could highlight other areas the book doesn't go quite as in-depth into; in my class's studies, many web sites had to be visited, which added some good knowledge outside the book's scope. Also, each chapter seems to be a little long; splitting some chapters up into shorter sections would have made me feel like I was moving through the book quicker.

However, this is a quality-written book from McGraw Hill. It could be good for anyone, young or old, who doesn't know much but wants to learn how to live a healthy life. If you're looking to get into shape for the summer, but have never paid attention to your health habits before, this book can actually be quite a good starting point: it can help point out how certain foods will affect your body, and give you a quick overview of many common, effective, good exercises. Very recommended for either class or independent study.

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